Alleged far-right plotters on trial accused of plan to topple German state

Nine people have gone on trial amid tight security in the southern German city of Stuttgart in one of three cases linked to an alleged far-right plot to overthrow the state led by a pseudo aristocrat businessman.

- Kate Connolly

The men are charged with high treason, attempted murder, and membership of a terrorist organisation in relation to the alleged coup, which was foiled in nationwide raids in 2022. They are identified as belonging to the "military wing" of the group's ringleader, the 72-year-old self-styled aristocrat Heinrich XIII, Prince Reuss.

The Stuttgart trial is the first of three separate court proceedings - split up over time and space for security and logistical reasons - in what amounts to the biggest legal case of its kind in postwar Germany.

Twenty-six people are due to appear in the dock. Federal prosecutors in December initially filed terrorism charges against 27 people, one of whom has since died.

The first day of the Stuttgart trial was largely taken up by the reading of the 33-page indictment.

The men, aged between 42 and 60, include a metal worker, a Covid denier and YouTuber, a kitchen salesman who had formerly served as a reservist in Afghanistan, an IT expert, a former soldier turned agricultural machinery mechanic, and a roofer.